last updated: August 31 2009
Every now and again I get asked by people interested in what I write in (seriously? there are people who read this regularly? I’m amazed.) how the hell do they buy all these weird and wonderful J-core CDs that I keep writing about. Admittedly there are several ways of going about them, and even a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese is helpful because the Japanese hardcore scene is insular in how it works – meaning most artists don’t really expect to sell their stuff outside of Japan.
So this guide, written in the wee hours of the morning as a gesture of good will those interested in the wonderful world of Japanese hardcore. This guide is no means perfect by any means, and I will try and keep this as updated as I possibly can.
I owe my thanks to a few people who have collections to envy at because they persevere in buying CDs across all the retailers I’ve mentioned in this guide. This guide probably wouldn’t exist without Ian, SilentMelancholia and Newer; I have seen the purchases of these guys and each time I can’t help but be wowed by the amount of stuff they get and what they find.
So without further ado…
Prelude
Perhaps the most important thing when buying j-core CDs is that you have to know what you want to buy. The more information you have about the release, the better. Discogs, a music databse – is probably the best place to find information about CDs, vinyl, promos, limited edition things since there is an active group of people submitting releases to Discogs which would fall under the category of Japanese hardcore. (Including the writer of this blog, who has spent faaaar too much time submitting things to Discogs instead of writing.) A lot of the time the actual release will determine a couple of important things about how easily obtainable it is.
What do I mean by that? Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Let’s say I wanted to buy a copy of enigmatic LIA 3 by Lia. Discogs doesn’t say anything about it being limited edition, which is a good start. The label clues me in on the fact that it’s got a nice print run because Pony Canyon is a major Japanese label. Since Lia is a pretty big artist in her own right as well, you might be able to find enigmatic LIA 3 in online Japanese/Asian CD vendors that sell her regular albums and singles. And lo and behond, you can find enigmatic LIA 3 on CDJapan and YesAsia, my two favourite sellers for j-pop and various other things. So sometimes, it can be that easy.
Most of the time, a release will only be sold by certain vendors. Releases by artists who aren’t so big, but big enough to have something more substantial than just a CD-R in a sleeve with a sheet of cut paper. Our example for this Hardcore Syndrome 3, produced by REDALiCE and the 9th CD in the Hardcore Tano*C label. Since REDALiCE is fairy popular, Hardcore Tano*C is probably one of the most well known circles besides Sharpnel and you have some relatively well known artists thrown into the mix (Ryu*, DJ Technorch, Joshka.) so usually you’ll be able to buy this CD either at Guhroovy or at mydjsobad.
Then if you’re a complete nut, sometimes you’ll want to go look for an absurdly rare release that for some reason is very limited. Like Double Dutch, a ridiculously rare release by Sharpnel. A lot of the time you will have to scour places like Yahoo!Japan Auctions or Suruga-ya religiously with the katakana for “Sharpnel” or “Sharpnelsound” ready for copypasta at a moment’s notice. And even then, you would still need a proxy service like Crescent Shop or Shopping Mall Japan to bid on your behalf and to ship the item to you. This method is probably for diehard fans only.
But since there are very few die hard fans who do option three (and those who do know the methods) and most people who know how to order from Amazon can order stuff that falls in option one’s category very easily – I will be focusing mostly on option two. Option Two is ordering things from Guhroovy, which is my (and if you’re a new j-core fan, will probably be yours) personal favourite place to shop for CDs. Both online and offline.
